A mother and daughter from Wisconsin are both fighting a battle they never thought they would have to fight together.
Missy Shatley, 38, had gone in for her yearly exam in December and the end result was a stage 2 ovarian cancer diagnosis. She was shocked. During the same time, her 14-year-old daughter Brooke had been complaining of severe abdominal pain. Doctors diagnosed her with a baseball-sized hemorrhagic disc that they said would go away on its own. After more weeks of pain, Missy finally took her in for a second opinion which is when they received the devastating news. Brooke had Stage 3 Ovarian cancer. She and her mom would be battling cancer together.
The stress this put on Missy’s dairy farmer husband, Jason, was astronomical. Not only did he drive back and forth to the hospital to visit Missy and Brooke regularly, he also needed to take care of their other two children and maintain their dairy farm.
Missy confessed, “It’s hard. Just to even think, ‘That’s my wife and daughter,’ how does anybody deal with that? Plus we have two other kids at home so he’s trying to be a husband, father, keep up with the farm, he’s being pulled in so many directions, how do you even begin?”
Missy recently finished her final round of radiation and chemotherapy on March 2. She now waits eight to 12 weeks before they can tell how effective the treatment was on her cancer.
Brooke has one more round of chemo to complete, which is set to begin on March 9.
The double diagnosis has no doubt been hard on the mother and daughter duo, but Missy says that through it all, it’s nice to be able to share this new bond with her daughter. They each understand what the other is going through.
Friends and family have rallied around the family, helping wherever they can with fundraisers and errands. We wish the Shatley family healing and health in the months ahead!
